Keeping and breeding of short-snouted New Caledonian gecko (Mniarogekko chahoua (Bavay, 1869)) at BION Terrarium Center
Mniarogekko chahoua Bauer et al. 2012also known as mossy New Caledonian gecko, short-snouted New Caledonian gecko, Bavay’s giant gecko or mossy prehensile-tailed gecko is a species of arboreal geckos previously belonging to Rhacodactylus genus. The species was first described in 1869 as Platydactylus chahoua by Arthur Bavay, a French pharmacist and herpetologist (Beolens et al., 2011). These geckos are found in the southern part of the island of New Caledonia and on the outlying islands of Île des Pins.
Keeping. We keep adult animals in pairs or individually in glass terrariums of minimum volume of 40*40*60 cm (15.74*15.74*23.62 in). Decoration includes paper towel instead of substrate, several thick logs, branches, pieces of bark and water dish. When the animals are fed with fruit puree (mash) it is served in a feeding dish. Moist chamber of 7-10 l that is used by females for making clutches is mandatory. There is a thick layer (5-7 cm (1.96-2.75 in) of coconut substrate that is regularly sprayed to retain moisture. The substrate is covered with several dry oak leaves to provide the female with sufficient number of hiding places even within the moist chamber that is closed with a non-transparent lid with a hole that is the only enter to the chamber, which also serves as a place for molting. Feces are cleaned regularly. Artificial or living plants are optional as these geckos like to spend time camouflaging on the branches. Males should not be kept together. They are very aggressive and can seriously injure each other. If you keep several individuals together, then it is better to do it with young animals of the same size till they reach sexual maturity.
